Presently, there is a great demand for shrinking semiconductor devices to provide an increased density of devices on the semiconductor chip that are faster and consume less power. The scaling of devices in the lateral dimension requires vertical scaling as well so as to achieve adequate device performance.
Gate stacks may comprise a gate oxide overlying a gate dielectric. The gate oxide may comprise silicon dioxide or, more recently, a nitrided gate oxide. Traditionally, plasma-assisted nitridation of silicon oxide to form nitrided gate oxide structures is achieved by creating a silicon dioxide layer on the surface of a substrate and reacting the silicon dioxide layer with ionized nitrogen generated by a plasma source.